Sesame constantly fails to connect via REST API

steveisles 2018-09-04 20:10:43 UTC #1

I am using the homebridge-sesame plugin by @andrew.schaper to connect to my Sesame Smart lock via the REST API (I have the WiFi Dongle, and both dongle and door lock are running the latest firmware). Most of the time, when I use HomeKit to send a command to unlock or lock my door via the REST API, I get an iOS notification from the Sesame application:

ATTENTION! Door unlock by Restful API FAILED because of a CONNECTIVITY ISSUE!

Usually, whether the notification happens or not, the door does eventually unlock / lock — though it could take more than one attempt, but the notification is happening 80-90% of the time.

Any idea what is causing this? The Wi-Fi dongle is only 2-2.5 meters away from the lock...

cim 2018-09-05 03:48:28 UTC #2

Thanks for the info! We've passed your feedback to our devs and they're checking out the issue now. We will let you know once we have an update. Thank you! - CANDY HOUSE

cim 2018-09-06 02:38:49 UTC #3

Thanks again for bringing this to our attention! Our devs have made some changes to the API, can you let us know if the issue persists over the next few days? We'd appreciate an update. Thank you! - CANDY HOUSE

steveisles 2018-09-06 03:06:45 UTC #4

Sure, I will keep you posted, and set a reminder to report back in a few days...

steveisles 2018-09-10 20:43:47 UTC #5

So, @cim I have been using the homebridge plugin since your tweaks and I find that the lock is way more likely to succeed when a command is issued via Siri — that is, if I say "unlock the door," @andrew.schaper 's plug-in sits and waits and eventually (a few seconds) says the action succeeds (e.g. "OK, the door is now unlocked.")

More importantly, the "Restful API FAILED because of a CONNECTIVITY ISSUE" messages have all gone away.

It still happens ~5% of the time that issuing a request fails to detect the status change (but the change in door lock/unlock state changes anyway) — but regardless I haven't seen any of the notifications above.

cim 2018-09-11 07:28:37 UTC #6

Thanks so much for the update, glad to hear there was an improvement! Thanks for bringing this issue to our attention so we could get it fixed. Let us know if you notice any other issues with the API so we can take a look. We've just released API V3 which will allow users to sync Sesame status to our server as well as query the status of commands given to Sesame, which are features we've added based on feedback from our users. It's important to us to continue improving the API, so please let us know if you have any further questions or suggestions! - CANDY HOUSE

steveisles 2018-10-10 00:24:48 UTC #7

BTW, this started happening again in the last 24 hours: "Restful API FAILED because of a CONNECTIVITY ISSUE" and with each time, the lock does not work via the RESTful API at all. I can connect via the Wi-Fi module, but not via the REST API. More interestingly, if I try to turn on or off the "Integration > Cloud" toggle in the lock's settings, I get a message "Looks like you are not connected to the CANDY HOUSE server."

Is your REST API server down or disabled?

steveisles 2018-10-10 00:28:03 UTC #8

BTW, after logging out and logging in on my iPhone, I can now toggle Cloud off, but when I toggle it on, it waits for a few seconds and then says "Oops Code 0, Reason: (null), message: (null)"

It sounds like your REST API server is hosed, dead, or off...

cim 2018-10-11 02:10:41 UTC #9

Sorry about the Code 0 error message, it's safe to ignore and will be fixed in the next update.

Can you let us know if the API is still failing for you now? We checked out your logs and it looks like the API was unsuccessful because the Wi-Fi Access Point wasn't responding to our server, but it seems to have resolved itself and the API is working for you again. Please check the LED light on the Wi-Fi Access Point when this issue occurs and make sure it's breathing blue. If it's not, try unplugging/replugging or reconnecting it to your router. It may have gotten disconnected. Hope this helps and let us know if you're still having trouble! - CANDY HOUSE

steveisles 2018-10-11 02:22:45 UTC #10

Yes, it does seem to be working again. I did in fact power-cycle the WiFi module which may have helped it...

andrew.schaper 2018-10-27 11:49:00 UTC #11

Hey @steveisles it sounds like your API issues have been resolved, but I just wanted to give you a heads up that a new version of homebridge-sesame (2.0.0) has just been published which supports the new v3 Sesame API. Should help with stability and prevent issues from occurring in the future.

Check out the updated README to get it going: https://www.npmjs.com/package/homebridge-sesame and let me know if you happen to run into any issues.

steveisles 2018-10-27 13:04:15 UTC #12

I got the API token and updated the config JSON and installed it and so far so good! I'll keep you posted if I run into any issues, and thanks @andrew.schaper for your continued development on this!

steveisles 2018-10-30 22:17:28 UTC #13

The recent issue you (@andrew.schaper) pointed out with the v3 version of the API obviously breaks version 2.0.0 — I modified the config.json to have both the token as well as the email and password and then downgraded to homebridge-sesame 1.1.3. This got things working again, but let me know when @cim fixes the v3 API/CloudFlare caching issue and I'll then switch back.

andrew.schaper 2018-10-31 01:42:50 UTC #14

Looks like the API is working now thankfully!

steveisles 2018-10-31 02:39:35 UTC #15

Yep! I switched back to running 2.0.0. Thanks for the update!